Ireland’s abortion ban is cruel, discriminatory to women

The abortion ban requires women to carry a medically doomed fetus to full term in Ireland or travel abroad, usually to England, for abortions.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee called on Ireland to provide ”timely and accessible procedures for pregnancy termination.” (Reuters)

A United Nations report has found that Ireland’s abortion ban subjects women to discriminatory, cruel and degrading treatment and has called on Ireland to legalize the practice for pregnancies involving fatal fetal abnormalities.

Thursday’s 29-page report accepted a complaint filed by Amanda Mellet, a Dublin woman who was denied a 2011 abortion in Ireland after her doctor informed her that her fetus had a fatal heart defect and could not survive outside the womb. Ireland permits abortions only in cases where the woman’s own life is endangered by continued pregnancy.

The ban requires women to carry a medically doomed fetus to full term in Ireland or travel abroad, usually to England, for abortions.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee called on Ireland to provide ”timely and accessible procedures for pregnancy termination.”